A Letter from UB President Satish K. Tripathi

Issues related to energy and the environment represent a
critical, broadly defined area of inquiry in the 21st century, one
of tremendous and growing scientific, social, and economic
importance. There is therefore a vital need for the highest quality
of research, scholarship, and educational initiatives in these
areas.

Given our geographic situation as well as our extensive faculty
expertise in issues related to energy, water, and the environment,
the University at Buffalo is positioned to play a leading research
role in these areas. Understanding and addressing these issues
effectively therefore requires a program of sufficient scale to
encompass the scope and complexities of this topic.

To fulfill UB's mission of academic excellence, it is imperative
that our research is of appropriate scope, and that it has strong
faculty presence. Moreover, conducting research that has such
profound environmental, societal, public health, and economic
implications requires that we adhere to the utmost standards of
academic integrity and transparency. It must be remembered that the
issues associated with natural gas production from shale are broad
and complex, with extensive public implications. It is with these
considerations in mind that we must assess the mission and
practices of the Shale Resources and Society Institute.

After consultation with faculty and our academic administration,
Provost Zukoski, Dean Pitman and I concur that:

-- Research of such considerable societal importance and impact
cannot be effectively conducted with a cloud of uncertainty over
its work.

-- While UB's policies that govern disclosure of significant
financial interests and sources of support are strong and
consistent with federal guidelines, these policies are in need of
further clarification and because of this lack of clarity were
inconsistently applied. (To remedy this, UB has established a
committee with participation of the faculty senate with the goal of
developing recommendations to strengthen and clarify our policies
in these areas.)

-- The institute lacks sufficient faculty presence in fields
associated with energy production from shale for the institute to
meet its stated mission.

-- Conflicts-both actual and perceived- can arise between
sources of research funding and expectations of independence when
reporting research results. This, in turn, impacted the appearance
of independence and integrity of the institute's research.

The university upholds academic freedom as a core principle of
our institutional mission. With that being said, academic freedom
carries with it inherent responsibilities. The Shale Resources and
Society Institute's May 15, 2012, report, "Environmental Impacts
during Marcellus Shale Gas Drilling: Causes, Impacts, and
Remedies," led to allegations questioning whether historical
financial interests influenced the authors' conclusions. The
fundamental source of controversy revolves around clarity and
substantiation of conclusions. Every faculty member has a
responsibility to ensure that conclusions in technical reports or
papers are unambiguous and supported by the presented data. It is
imperative that our faculty members adhere to rigorous standards of
academic integrity, intellectual honesty, transparency, and the
highest ethical conduct in their work.

Because of these collective concerns, I have decided to close
the Shale Resources and Society Institute.

To leverage our university's considerable faculty expertise in
the area of energy and the environment and to address these issues
with appropriate breadth and complexity, UB will establish a
comprehensive program of scholarship and education that addresses
issues in this broadly defined area of research. Accordingly, I
have asked Provost Zukoski to work with academic deans, the vice
president for research and economic development, and the faculty
researchers across the disciplines who have expertise in this broad
field to create a faculty-driven process that provides appropriate
scope and scale for UB's scholarship in energy and environmental
sciences.

As a leading research university with a long history of
leadership in sustainability, water, and energy-related issues, the
University at Buffalo has the potential to be a leading voice in
this national and global conversation. Across the disciplines, we
have a number of faculty experts who are conducting vital research
in these areas. We need to bring these faculty together and harness
their intellectual energy in order to address these issues in an
interdisciplinary, comprehensive, and focused way. UB can be a key
institutional leader in this critical field of energy and the
environment. To do so, we need to be deliberate and thoughtful,
with an eye toward the long-range implications of this research,
which has tremendous local, national, and global impact.

Sincerely,

Satish K. Tripathi

President

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